Tae Kwon Do Bad for the Knees - Why?

I feel as though its pretty well known that Tae Kwon Do is bad for your knees. However, I'm not sure why this is well known (maybe a rumor that just spread very quickly and very far), nor am I sure why TKD is bad for the knees (if it is true). Awhile ago, I decided that it was because of the common practice in TKD schools of kicking the air, kicking as hard as you can with no resistance, which would put strain on the "stopper" joint, the knee.

The air kicking can cause hyperextension through the knee. This mostly happens with airkicks that have little control and go past the point of lockout as there is not enough strength in the upper leg to stop the momentum. To much of this can have a culumative affect on the joint.

There is also the idea that the torque placed on the knee during rotational kicks can be bad as well if the technique isn't good. I've seen more than one over eager person blow a knee out because of lack of rotation from the supporting foot . . . meaning the rotation happened between the upper and lower leg.

the reason i have seen two torn ACLs in my tkd school: not going up on the ball of ur foot to pivot. it seems like a stupid little thing, but when ur foot is flat it isn't moving, and these people were tourquing a good 200 lb around a stationary joint, that will rip tendons everytime.

I have not heard that TKD, in general, is bad for the knees. In fact, I had knee surgury (cartiledge removal - prior to when arthroscopic surgery was available. This was prior to my starting martial arts training) many years ago, so my knees are susceptible to injury. I have never had knee problems when doing TKD. Over the years I have gotten a broken arm, broken foot, broken nose as well as many other minor injuries from TKD sparring. But I have not had any knee problems. Just the opposite, really. When I am training I find my knees (and back) work better.

I believe the post by "Art" is correct. Using bad technique is a problem for the knees. A guy at our club messed up his knee a year ago and needed surgery but that was due to his not properly rotating his foot while doing roundhouse kicks. It was all about his improper technique.

During line drills or stationary drills where you have no target to strike you should never lock out any joints (elbows or knees). When you really strike someone you do not lock out the joint, why do it in a practice drill? If the technique is performed properly and under control there is no problem for the knees or any joints.

Hmmm... all good points, though I'm surprised that more people don't see the kicking air bit to be a problem. Also, I've never personally been around anyone who injured their knee doing the most common answer in this thread, which is NOT rotate the grounded foot when throwing a roundhouse or something.

My TKD instructor had to have arthroscopic surgery on his knee. All of the experienced black belt (older guys) wore knee braces and several needed knee surgery. This is one of the reasons why i decided to leave TKD and try out a different style of martial arts. I didn't want to blow out my knees. The guys i talked to about it in the class said it was from doing punches and kicks without any resistance.

I'm sure that nobody here will look at the title thread and make any assumptions, but just in case:

Knee injuries of some types can occur with air-kicking (hyperextension predominating), but what can happen to the knee is a veritable Dante's gallery of mishaps, and few MAs are exempt from risk in this regard. Any throw-emphasizing MA, such as Judo, will have numbers of practitioners who have blown knees because they didn't have their leg(s) at exactly the right position as they heaved their adversary up in the air. Sudden extra-load-bearing, wrong angle of support for whatever reason (chaos theory is exemplified by randori), rip 'n tear, bye-bye knee. One can also get the joint damaged by not tapping in time when rolling in bjj or SW.

If TKD can be "bad for the knees", then it most certainly is not alone among MAs in this regard. Of course, proper training and use can lessen the risk, but **** happens in all MAs.

Of course. Anyone can get knee problems doing anything. I wasn't trying to imply that I think TKD is the only art in which knee problems can arise, but I do think that knee problems tend to occur more frequently in TKD than in other arts. Mainly just because - and I know this isn't the best reason in the world - you hear about it more often. You just don't hear MT practitioners complaining of bad knees too often, and when you hear BJJ and Judo practitioners complaining of injuries, most of the time its shoulders (from what I've seen).

Couple that with the fact that I train stand-up, don't train grappling, train TKD, have bad knees, know lots of people that have bad knees who also train in TKD, and can see valid reasons why TKD might be bad for the knees, and you have THREAD OF AMAZINGNESS!